When you think about the fact that Apple seems to enjoy the strongest brand-loyalty of any other manufacturer of their kind, it makes sense that geeks everywhere are excited for Apple launches no matter the product. For those of us who are married to our iPads, there is an extra special reason to watch: technology that shows up on the latest iPhone always seems to make it onto the next version of the iPad. So with that in mind, what can we expect?

Updated Dock Connector – This one is probably a no-brainer. Apple has a history of standardizing dock connectors across their devices and there is no reason to believe they will stop now.

Thinner and Lighter – The trend for all Apple devices (from MacBook to iPod) is to get thinner and lighter and even more portable than ever before. With a smaller dock connector and emerging screen technologies it seems a reasonable speculation to say that the next iPad will also benefit from these bonuses.

Updated Backside Styling – Aluminum is the metal of choice for Apple, so combining it with glass for the housing of the new iPhone wasn’t surprising. What was a little unexpected was the two-tone, inlay design. This update perpetuated to the iPod Touch and just may be a consistency that will also extend to any new iPads.

A6 Processor – Faster performance and better battery life are two fantastic reasons to see the A6 chip in any new iPads.

Not to be forgotten are the software differences (like the new Maps app and what we presume will be full access to Siri), though most of those can be had on your existing iPad as you upgrade to iOS 6 (at least for those with a second or third generation device, rumors are varied but suggest lots of functionality will be missing from the first generation iPads).

So are we in for a second Apple event this fall? Will there really be an iPad Mini in time for the holiday season? Will it include any of these new iPhone 5 features as well? All bets seem to be on that smaller iPad looking more like a miniature iPad 2, so it would seem that the only likely update will be the new dock connector